He reaches forward and pulls me against his chest. I don’t even care that I’m only wrapped in a towel. I wrap my arms around his waist and let him hold me. He rests his chin on the top of my head. “When I heard that car crash into you,” he starts.
I lean back and put my hand up to his lips, silencing him. “Colton, there’s no reason to go back there. Don’t think about it.”
“I yelled at Tom,” he whispers. “I can count on my right hand how many times I’ve yelled at him.”
“Why did you yell at him?”
“Because he wanted to continue with the plan instead of searching for you right away.”
“He was right. You know that there’s a chance that I might not come out of this situation alive. I’ve cheated death too many times. This isn’t an episode of Supernatural. I mean if I could bring Sam and Dean here—”
“Ry.”
“Sorry. That vision is just one possibility for the future. It can still change. I’m going to do everything I can so it doesn’t, but there’s always a chance. If something does happen to me, you have to continue with this fight. You have to push forward; otherwise all of this would have been for nothing. Don’t let it be for nothing, Colton.”
“If I lose you,” he starts.
“Don’t think like that,” I say. “There’s no point. Unless Dravin captures me again, don’t think like that.”
“Dravin’s not going to capture you again,” he says—his deep voice low with conviction. I wouldn’t be so sure of that, but there’s no point being the negative-nelly.
“Exactly.
Someone starts knocking on the door. “Unless you’re having crazy sex against the bathroom sink, which I know you’re not, because I can hear you talking, can you hurry up? I gotta pee,” Emma yells through the door. I laugh and step away from Colton.
“Emma!” I hear David say from the room.
He opens the bathroom door and walks straight into Emma. “She has to get dressed,” he tells her.
“I don’t care. I’ve seen her naked before. Move!” she pushes past him. A confused look crosses Colton’s face as I shut the door. “Poor guy. He feels like he’s missing out.”
I search through my duffle bag for a fitted black t-shirt and some athletic shorts. I have a feeling that today is the day. I’m well enough to heal Logan the rest of the way which will allow him to heal everyone that’s still injured. As Emma washes her hands, I try to fix my hair, but it’s already drying curly, so I leave it.
I walk out of the bathroom and barrel into a rather large man. I don’t recognize him. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I say as I crane my neck up to see him. He looks slightly older than Bragden. Sandy blonde hair and eyes so blue the summer sky would be jealous look down at me.
“No need to apologize, miss,” the man says with a deep southern drawl. Finally someone who I can imitate! He sticks out his hand. “Travis Howick,” he introduces himself.
Travis? That names sounds so familiar, but I’ve never seen this man before. Travis…Travis…Tra…“You saved me.” He smiles at me, the left side of his mouth rising slightly higher than the right. Dimples and all, the smile gives me all the confirmation I need. Instead of shaking his hand, I give him a hug. I never used to be a huggy person, but so many of these mages have saved my life. A hug is more appropriate than a handshake. “Thank you,” I mumble into his shirt. His chest rumbles from his laughter.
“Ryanne gives the best hugs, doesn’t she?” asks Bragden.
“Sure does. Never had a better one.”
I laugh and step away from him looking for Colton. Everyone is in this room now. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed, watching me. I step away from Travis and head to my soulmate.
“So, umm…where are we?” I ask as I sit down.
“At a hotel roughly thirty minutes from the Howick’s house. What do you remember, Ryanne?”
“Umm, I remember talking on the phone with Colton and the car hitting us…” I shake my head. I’m drawing a blank. “I don’t remember anything from getting hit to waking up. Dravin brought in a doctor who took some of my blood to see if they could extract my magic and then he gave me more dormirako to sleep again. I remember Liam showing up and then…” I pause to think. Did anything happen between then and waking up again?
“I don’t know. I remember waking up again and Dravin asking me if I had an enchantment spell on me. He didn’t think it was possible to put that on a person, but he couldn’t detect any magic in my blood. Umm, he hit me twice, choked me once, and then stormed out of the room. While he was gone, I got my right arm free and untied myself. I ripped the IV out of my arm, which let me tell you…that hurt. Before I could call for Travis, Dravin and the doctor came back into the room. I hit them with electrified energy and got out of the room. The dormirako was wearing off, so I was starting to feel everything again. I called for Travis after Dravin yelled…”